Jiraiya

"Sorry... we... concealed some things about this place..." the man apologized to Ye Wuyue.

A six-year-old girl stood beside the two of them, watching them in bewilderment.

Ye Wuyue casually waved his hand and said, "We saw through it long ago. Get up first. You two frightened the child. Also, could you prepare a clean bed for me?"

Hearing that Ye Wuyue did not blame them, the couple was pleasantly surprised and hurriedly said, "Yes, we'll prepare it right away!"

The couple quickly prepared a clean bed. Ye Wuyue placed Itachi on it, then sat down beside the bed.

The situation felt inexplicably familiar to him. Six years ago, after Uchiha Setsuna's assassination attempt, Itachi seemed to have stayed by his bedside like this without sleeping all night.

Izumi would be heartbroken if she knew about this, Ye Wuyue guessed as he looked at Itachi lying on the bed.

Izumi had become a Jonin by now. Because of their missions, she and Itachi rarely had a chance to spend time together, but their relationship had grown even closer. Every time Izumi returned from a mission, she would make a point of visiting their home to see whether Itachi was there.

The two of them were already seventeen or eighteen, an age when people in this world could begin discussing marriage. Yet they had not even defined their relationship, and Ye Wuyue was starting to feel anxious on their behalf.

After an hour or two, Shisui arrived as well, following the mark Ye Wuyue had left behind.

"How is Itachi?"

After entering, Shisui first asked Ye Wuyue.

"He hasn't woken up yet, but he doesn't seem to have any serious problems. He probably overused his Sharingan," Ye Wuyue replied.

"What about you, Shisui? Did you catch Orochimaru and the others?"

"Ah." Shisui sighed helplessly before answering, "Orochimaru was simply too cunning. He had already built an extensive network of underground tunnels beneath Otogakure. When I pursued them, they all hid in the tunnels. There were too many branching paths, and I wasn't familiar with the area, so I lost them very quickly.

"Besides, Otogakure has become an empty shell. Almost all the ninja there followed Orochimaru. However, I did find the remaining three Uchiha rogue ninja in the underground laboratory beneath Otogakure. Their eyes had already been removed. Including Uchiha Setsuna, that leaves only one Uchiha rogue ninja still at large."

Ye Wuyue had anticipated this result long ago. He consoled Shisui, "It's no big deal that we didn't catch him. After all, even when the Third Naruto surrounded Orochimaru with a large number of ANBU, Orochimaru still managed to escape. Compared to that, the situation we faced was much more difficult."

The remaining Uchiha rogue ninja was probably Orochimaru's current body. Orochimaru had finally obtained the Sharingan he had long yearned for, but judging by his appearance, he still did not seem satisfied.

"You're not wrong," Shisui said, scratching his head. "But you brothers are truly astonishing. The word 'genius' isn't enough to describe either of you anymore, is it?

"Itachi goes without saying, but you've grown so quickly too. The last time you came to see me, you hadn't even learned the Body Flicker Technique yet, had you? I don't know what those abilities of yours are, but judging from your current strength, you should be at the level of an elite Jonin."

Shisui found the two brothers somewhat unreal. The one on the bed was only seventeen and was already a powerful Kage-level fighter. The one sitting beside the bed was only twelve yet already possessed the strength of an elite Jonin. His abilities were also special enough that he could even contend with someone at Kage Level.

"Isn't Shisui the same? You must have obtained those Mangekyō Sharingan six years ago, right?" Hearing Shisui's praise, Ye Wuyue smiled and asked him in return.

Shisui rubbed his head. He had told Fugaku about awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan, so Fugaku had probably revealed it to Ye Wuyue.

"Forget it. Neither of us should say anything about the other. Otherwise, it'll sound like we're praising each other."

Like Itachi, Shisui did not press Ye Wuyue about where his abilities came from.

After a while, Itachi woke up. Once they confirmed that he was fine, the four of them returned to Konoha together.

Outside the Hokage's office

Before Ye Wuyue and the others even opened the door, they heard hearty laughter coming from inside.

"Hahahahaha! I've already met that kid Naruto. Hmm, his talent is pretty good. He's only a little short of being comparable to me back then."

Hearing that voice, Ye Wuyue immediately guessed who was inside.

"Sasuke?"

Just then, someone called out to Ye Wuyue.

He turned around and saw Naruto walking toward them.

His class had probably just finished a mission, and they were currently on their break.

"Oh, it's Naruto. What brings you here...?"

Ye Wuyue greeted Naruto while Itachi knocked on the Hokage's office door.

"I don't know either. My dad told me to come here and said I was going to meet someone, but he didn't tell me who," Naruto replied.

Creak! The office door suddenly opened, and an old man with a head of white hair appeared before everyone.

When Naruto saw him, his eyes widened. He pointed at the man with his right hand and shouted in disbelief, "It's you! The perverted sage who peeped at the women's bathhouse! What are you doing here?"

With his secret exposed in front of everyone, Jiraiya grabbed Naruto and hauled him aside.

"We've already met, and you still can't remember my name? I'm the Toad Sage!"

Jiraiya rapped his knuckles against Naruto's head as he spoke. Then he turned around, coughed twice, and said to Ye Wuyue and the others, "Ahem, you're here to report your mission to Minato, right? Come in."

Seeing Jiraiya, Ye Wuyue felt somewhat excited. After all, when he had watched Naruto back then, Jiraiya had been one of his favorite characters. Now, he had actually met the real person.

"I didn't expect Jiraiya to have already returned to the village. Thank you."

Shisui thanked Jiraiya, then the four of them entered the Hokage's office together. Jiraiya, meanwhile, led Naruto out of the office. Other people were not allowed to stay nearby during a mission report.

"What are you trying to do, you perverted sage? If you keep this up, I'm going to stop being polite!"

Naruto struggled constantly, but he was never able to break free of Jiraiya's hold.

Inside, Minato saw this and rubbed his forehead helplessly. He had originally intended to go over and explain, but after seeing Ye Wuyue and the others enter, he sat back down.

Nara Shikaku and Inoichi Yamanaka were standing behind Minato.

"Shisui, you're back too. How did things go this time?" Minato smiled warmly as he asked Shisui.

"This time, I found traces of the other five Uchiha rogue ninja. Four of them, including Uchiha Setsuna, are already dead. We brought their bodies back, but we failed to capture one of them," Shisui reported to Minato.

"Did something happen?" Minato asked.

"We discovered Orochimaru there..."

Bang! The door to the Hokage's office was suddenly pushed open.